Just started reading the Smiley series by le Carre
Books The BOOK thread
- Thread starter Livvie
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I have recently read 'The Yes Man' which was very enjoyable, took a while to get started but quite funny once it does.
After that i read 'World War Z' twice because after reading it once i loved it and after the second time i decided it was my favourite book ever.
Started reading 'John Dies at the End' today and I think I am enjoying it, although it is very odd, not usually my sort of thing but very funny and like i say very strange.
Im also kind of reading 'The God Delusion' but I feel I have to be in the right state of mind to appreciate it and so havnt got too far in yet. I think any book where you have to have a dictionary at your side that you regularly refer to is difficult to get into but i will persevere because it is brilliant so far.
After that i read 'World War Z' twice because after reading it once i loved it and after the second time i decided it was my favourite book ever.
Started reading 'John Dies at the End' today and I think I am enjoying it, although it is very odd, not usually my sort of thing but very funny and like i say very strange.
Im also kind of reading 'The God Delusion' but I feel I have to be in the right state of mind to appreciate it and so havnt got too far in yet. I think any book where you have to have a dictionary at your side that you regularly refer to is difficult to get into but i will persevere because it is brilliant so far.
Just started 'A Game of Thrones'!
I'm reading V. by Thomas Pynchon currently. At the start of every other chapter I feel frustrated and lost before I get pulled in. In a very non-Kafka way he reminds me of Kafka. Will read Gravity's Rainbow when I'm done with this. Plech's favorite apparently.
I just finished "The Grapes of Wrath." It was brilliant. I read a few critical reviews of it that said Steinbeck didnt develop his characters enough and they were one dimensional but I thought it was class with certain characters really speaking to me. Just a brilliant story for me. I'm going to get a few more of his books now with "Cannery Row," and "East of Eden," the next two on my list.
Going travelling for a couple of months from next week. Anyone recommend a few must-read books to take along with me?
I'm about to start Ellen Ray & William Schaap's Covert Action: The Roots of Terrorism.
I've heard good things.
I've heard good things.
Graham Hunter's book on Barcelona is in my top 5 sports book ever. If you haven't read it make sure you do
Just finished the Lost Empire of Atlantis by Gavin Menzies. Really enjoyed this analysis of the story of the Minoan civilisation. Very interesting if you have an interest in the Bronze age and one possilble explanation for the story of Atlantis and where is springs from.
"Empire of the Summer Moon". Good read about the Commanches wars and how they slowed Spanish and American expansion. I've read a good deal of American Indian history, and while this felt a bit sensationalist, it was a worthy read. Tough hombres they were.
I am currently reading 'Skagboys.' It is brilliant, as expected.
Finished 'A Game of Thrones' last night. I'm on to 'A Clash of Kings'
About 10% into Stalin: Court of the Red Tsar.
A very good read, and pretty accessible as well.
A very good read, and pretty accessible as well.
Always interested in Stalin the paranoid nutjob. Will have a read of this I think.
Am reading this now - The Coming of the Third Reich: How the Nazis Destroyed Democracy and Seized Power in Germany
Must admit I skipped the first chapter to get to the more useful stuff on post 1918 events.
Must admit I skipped the first chapter to get to the more useful stuff on post 1918 events.
It's the first book I've read on Stalin and Russia in this period. Not sure I'm starting in the right place, but it seemed as good as anywhere. It's by Simon Sebag Montefiore, and is followed by a book on Stalin's youth as well.
Have got a few other ones lined up to read:
Whispers - Orlando Figes, about families living in Stalin's Russia and Gulag (can't remember who that's by).
Started on this after reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch (again) and Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith. I liked the back drop of the era and thought it would be interesting to learn more.
I studied a bit about the history of Russia from Tzar Nicholas onwards. I got a brief overview of the turbulent past but would like to go into more depth on a few of the characters like Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin.
Any reading you could recommend?
If you're near a really good library, Christopher Read's The Stalin Years: A Reader is excellent, pulling together some interesting and balanced articles. And if you enjoyed Solzhenitsyn, I'd really recommend looking up the poetry of Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam too.
David Gemmels Damned series
White Wolf: 8/10.
Enjoyable romp featuring the normal heroics found in Gemmel novels, with an intriguing centre character. Skilgannon is a mixture of his Waylander, Stormrider from the Rigante series and Druss. Druss also features and the axeman is at his usal best. It's the likeable side characters that are doomed that steal the show.
Th Sword of Night and Day: 5/10
Just feels like an excuse to rewrite the previous novel. There are some fantastic moments in it and Stavut with his lads is truly entertaining but all in it feels like the same book again.
White Wolf: 8/10.
Enjoyable romp featuring the normal heroics found in Gemmel novels, with an intriguing centre character. Skilgannon is a mixture of his Waylander, Stormrider from the Rigante series and Druss. Druss also features and the axeman is at his usal best. It's the likeable side characters that are doomed that steal the show.
Th Sword of Night and Day: 5/10
Just feels like an excuse to rewrite the previous novel. There are some fantastic moments in it and Stavut with his lads is truly entertaining but all in it feels like the same book again.
Good book.
If you're interested in Stalin/Stalinism/Stalinist Russia, you should read The Stalin Years, The Soviet Union 1929-1953 by Evan Mawdsley.
Rather less "personal" than Court of the Red Tsar, though. It's more of a proper history book.
For Trotskij, you could read The Revolution Betrayed. There are many books out there on Stalin. I've not studied Lenin spesifically, but there's a lot of good literature out there on the revolution. If you're interested in the revolution, try Revolutionary Russia, new approaches, which is essentially a series of articles on different subjects edited by Rex A. Wade.
Anyone here read the Gaunt's Ghosts books? I'm normally very hesitant to read any "collection universes" like Forgotten Realms or Warhammer 40k, but there are a few notable exceptions. They just feel like genuinely good books (at least from the perspective of someone who loves sci-fi and fantasy.)
One great thing about them is that the author (Dan Abnett) is not afraid of killing off "main characters". It starts off slowly in that respect, but it's quite shocking when you get a few books in. There's an overarching theme (and below that an overarching theme every 3-4 books), but every book has its own contained story.
One great thing about them is that the author (Dan Abnett) is not afraid of killing off "main characters". It starts off slowly in that respect, but it's quite shocking when you get a few books in. There's an overarching theme (and below that an overarching theme every 3-4 books), but every book has its own contained story.
Thanks for the recommendations fellas.
Just finish "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley. I thought it a decent read but it's always near the top ten of all time great fiction books and I didnt see that quality in it. Definitely worth a read though.
a friend of mine passed on those Hunger Games books to me. Just made it through the 2nd. Not used to reading such plot driven fiction. Honestly has been a lot of fun.
Read "Father's and Sons" as well. Excellent.
Read "Father's and Sons" as well. Excellent.
Good stuff. I recently read Tinker Tailor and bought the DVD boxset with it and Smiley's People. Saw The Constant Gardener in a charity shop for £2.50 last week and had no cash on me. I'll get it next time.
I'm about halfway through Diary of a Nobody atm. A classic. Think of a nineteenth century cross between Victor Meldrew and Hyacinth Bucket. Quality read and is free to download on Kindle.
Right.
So on my list I have
Game of Thrones
Crime and Punishment
Slaughterhouse 5
Anything I should add?
So on my list I have
Game of Thrones
Crime and Punishment
Slaughterhouse 5
Anything I should add?
I've just finished re-reading one of my favourite books of all time, Thomas Bernhard's Woodcutters.
So yes, do read it.
So yes, do read it.
Starting reading Les Miserables. A proper challenge.
I read Mawdley's book on the Civil War. Quite good, though I preferred Bruce Lincoln's (I think) book called "Red Victory". Pretty much anything you read on the Russian Civil war will be fascinating. "The White Generals" was superb as well, though it reaches out past Russia into Finland, the Baltic states, the Ukraine and Poland. "Setting the East On Fire" deals with the ridiculous adventurism that went on in Siberia and Mongolia in that era. Reds, Cossacks, Yanks (!), Japanese, messianic Chinese prophets, the Czech Legion, and the sadistic insane Baron Sternberg. Unbelievable.
On a smaller scale, I found a strange old forgotten book called "Farewell to the Don" written by an English artilleryman who found himself with the small British expeditionary force after WWI supporting the Whites in the Don and Kuban regions. Gives a smaller scale look at the chaos that was the fighting in the civil war. If you wanted something from the other side at the personal scale, there's a book called "Notes from a Red Guard" by a soldier that fought in all sorts of civil war campaigns, including some of the lesser known later wars fought in the central Asian republics (Dagestan in particular I believe).
For a fictionalized account, I loved Mikhail Sholokov's "The Quiet Don" series ("Quiet Flows the Don", and "The Don Flows Home to the Sea") books. They focus on just one village of the Don host, but it's a great read. Read them a few times when I was younger. Bulgakov's "White Guard" was pretty good as well, centered in the Ukraine and focuses on a family caught in the middle between whites, reds, and the approaching dread of Makhno's anarchists.
Anyway, I don't think you can pick up anything to do with the Russian civil war and not get wrapped up. So many nuts running about, wreaking havoc at the time to the hapless folks in that poor country. I've got a whole shelf devoted to that time and place if you were looking for any other recommendations.
If you haven't actually bought it yet, I'd recommend the Pevear and Volkonsky translation. I've only actually read the Constance Garnett version of Crime and Punishment, but I read both versions of The Brother's Karamazov and I really preferred theirs. Can't really say why, but I think most folks would agree. It's actually come up a couple of times on the Caf.
Believe it or not, the movie for Slaughterhouse 5 is quite good as well. Seems like an impossible movie to make, but I remember liking it.
Haven't read Game of Thrones.
Yeah, it starts slowly but I knew that when I was going to read it. I already know the whole story anyway and all that, but wanted to read it anyway so I could find out about everything that happens in more depth.
Finished reading World War Z the other day. Probably the best book I've ever read. Immediately re-reading it.
Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II - Mithchell Zuckoff
One of the best books I've read in the last year, if you like WWII true life stories this is great. I got one for the old-man-in-law and he read it in a day.
One of the best books I've read in the last year, if you like WWII true life stories this is great. I got one for the old-man-in-law and he read it in a day.
couldn't agree more, I did exactly the same and as soon as its not so fresh i'll probably read it again.
Some of the stories are incredible, he must have done some serious research.
There's also a short follow up book 'Closure Limited' with 3 more stories, not as good as the originals but worth a go at a fiver.
It's too good! Too good for what I expected! I feel like the movie is going to be impossible to convey the same feel and understanding you get for the events, in just a couple of hours. Can't imagine the research that went it, every angle, and all the others you wouldn't even conceive, had been thought of. Without a doubt the best way to tackle that subject/theme as well, to really present the feel of being at the worlds very end.
Have you had a look at The Zombie Survival Guide?
From what i've read on t'internet we shouldn't build our hopes up for the movie, the author max brooks has had little input and its more of a brad pitt trying to save the world sort of movie, so crap, but the Zs should be good.
Tbf it could never come close to creating the movie in a 2 hour slot anyway, its wayy to dense, would make an incredible TV show though.
Tbf it could never come close to creating the movie in a 2 hour slot anyway, its wayy to dense, would make an incredible TV show though.